Improved caster for furniture



N ITED STATES ATENT Ormel-3.

J. DAVIS BRADLEY, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVED CASTER FOR FURNITURE, &C.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,830, dated August 16, 1864.

To-cll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. Davis BRADLEY, of the city of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Iiurniture-Casters; and I do hereby declare hat the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View; Fig. 2, a sectional view; Fig. 3, a sectional view of a part thereof, and Fig. t an enlarged view of a minute portion of the same.

The ordinary caster in general use at the present time has a motion produced by a wheel to the right and left, and t-he wheels of some of the gun-carriages, both in the French navy and in our own', are so constructed as to have a vertical motion when desired;v and the object of my improvement consists in providing a new and useful means of combining both motions in a small, cheap, convenient, 'and easily-adjusted caster, which may be used 011 all portable mills or movable portions of machinery-such as thrashingmachines, clover hullers, portable cider-mills, corn-shelters, fanning-mills, Src.; also, on all heavy articles of furnituresuch as billiardtables, wardrobes, bureaus, sideboards, bookcases, office desks and tables, pianos-in general upon all articles of machinery or furniture to which it can be advantageously attached, which sometimes require to be moved, but are better for being rolled on the frames or legs when in use.

The nature of my improvements consists in providing a cylinder closed at the top and open at the bottom, into which is inserted a well-adjusted piston, in combination with a double cam, through which passes an axle into the short slots in the side of the cylinder, the cam being moved or turned up or 'down by means of a lever or wrench attached to one end of the axle of the cam on the outside of the cylinder, so that when the cam is turned up the piston and wheel a' tached to the lower end of the piston are forced down or the cylinder and the frame or leg are forced up and carried oft' of the floor, the whole weight of the object then resting on the wheels. By these means I am enabled to throw the whole weight of the machine, mill, or article of furniture on its frame or legs when required to be solid and stationary for use, or upon the wheels when I wish to move the same.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation, reference being had to the letters and figures in the accompanying drawings.

They consist, first, of a metallic cylinder, the same being represented by A in Figs. 1 and 2, representing my caster as attached to the leg of an object. The cylinder A is closed at the top and open at the bottom. Into this cylinder A is inserted a well-adjusted piston, B, Fig. 2, which is moved inthe cylinder A by means of a double cam, b, constructed on an axle, c, which is attached to the cylinder A by an end ofthe axle e being inserted into and the other end passing through the short slots, (represented by G in Fig. 4.) In the lower part of the cylinder A there is a longer slot, g, through which a pin is driven into the piston B to prevent the piston from dropping too low. Around the lower end of the cylinder A is a rim, a., perforated with the proper number of holes for attaching it to the frame or leg, which must be made hollow at the bottom sufcient to admit the whole caster. The Yshank or pivot d of the wheel of the ordinary caster D is inserted in the lowerY end ofthe piston B, so that when the double cam b is turned up by means of the lever or wrench E the piston B andwheel D will be forced down or the cylinder A will be forced up, carrying the frame or leg of the object off oi' the floor and throwing the whole weight upon the wheel. lBy these means I provide a small,

v cheap, and easily-adjusted caster, practicable and useful in moving portable machines and mills, and adapted to heavy articles of furniture.

Having thus described the construction and 'operation of my improvement, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The cylinder A'and piston B, in combination with .the double cam G, substantially as shown, for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the Wheel D with theV pistonB and cylinder A and cam C and wrench or lever E, substantially as shown, for the purposes set forth.

J. DAVIS BRADLEY.

Witnesses JNO. P.' BENTLEY. G. W. FALEs. 

